# Refunds and credit notes

Issue refunds and credit notes on taxed invoices.

Stripe automatically adjusts your tax liability when you refund or credit invoices that include Stripe Tax calculations.

## Refunds (Server-side)

Stripe Tax adjusts your tax liability in proportion to the refunded amount, splitting the refund between the net amount and tax based on the original tax rate.

**Exclusive tax**

|   | Net | Tax (25%) | Total | Refund total | Tax refunded |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Invoice total** | **$100** | **$25** | **$125** | **−$25** | **−$5** |
| Line item 1 | $60 | $15 | $75 | −$15 | −$3 |
| Line item 2 | $40 | $10 | $50 | −$10 | −$2 |

**Inclusive tax**

|   | Net | Tax (20%) | Total | Refund total | Tax refunded |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Invoice total** | **$80** | **$20** | **$100** | **−$20** | **−$4** |
| Line item 1 | $48 | $12 | $60 | −$12 | −$2.40 |
| Line item 2 | $32 | $8 | $40 | −$8 | −$1.60 |

[Create a refund](https://docs.stripe.com/api/refunds/create.md) that identifies the [PaymentIntent](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices/object.md#invoice_object-payment_intent) generated by the invoice payment.

```curl
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/refunds \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -d "payment_intent={{PAYMENTINTENT_ID}}" \
  -d amount=1000
```

## Credit notes (Server-side)

You can issue [Credit Notes](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/object.md) to track tax liability decreases and provide records to your customers.

#### Refund invoice amount

To refund the total amount of an invoice, create a `Credit Note` that automatically generates a `Refund`, or create a `Refund` first, then reference it when you create the `Credit Note`.

#### Automatic Refund

[Create a credit note](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/create.md) specifying the `refund_amount` value to automatically generate a [Refund](https://docs.stripe.com/api/refunds/object.md).

```curl
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/credit_notes \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -d "invoice={{INVOICE_ID}}" \
  -d refund_amount=1000
```

#### Manual Refund

[Create a Refund](https://docs.stripe.com/api/refunds/create.md), then include its ID when you create a [Credit Note](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/object.md). In this case, don’t include a `refund_amount` value.

```curl
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/credit_notes \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -d "invoice={{INVOICE_ID}}" \
  -d "refunds[0][refund]={{REFUND_ID}}" \
  -d "refunds[0][amount_refunded]=1000"
```

Stripe Tax automatically distributes the total refund amount between taxes and the net amount.

#### Refund invoice line item amount

To refund only one or more line items from an invoice, first [preview the credit note](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/preview.md) to collect the [total](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/object.md#credit_note_object-total) and [total_excluding_tax](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/object.md#credit_note_object-total_excluding_tax) amounts.

```curl
curl -G https://api.stripe.com/v1/credit_notes/preview \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -d "invoice={{INVOICE_ID}}" \
  -d "lines[0][type]=invoice_line_item" \
  --data-urlencode "lines[0][invoice_line_item]={{line item id from invoice}}" \
  -d "lines[0][amount]=1000"
```

Create a `Credit Note` that automatically generates a `Refund`, or create a `Refund` first, then reference it when you create the `Credit Note`.

#### Automatic Refund

[Create a credit note](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/create.md) specifying the `refund_amount` value and the relevant line items to automatically generate a [Refund](https://docs.stripe.com/api/refunds/object.md).

```curl
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/credit_notes \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -d "invoice={{INVOICE_ID}}" \
  -d refund_amount=1000 \
  -d "lines[0][type]=invoice_line_item" \
  -d "lines[0][invoice_line_item]={{line item id from invoice}}" \
  -d "lines[0][amount]=1000"
```

#### Manual Refund

[Create a Refund](https://docs.stripe.com/api/refunds/create.md) using the `total` calculated by the Credit Note preview, then include its ID when you create a [Credit Note](https://docs.stripe.com/api/credit_notes/object.md). In this case, don’t include a `refund_amount` value.

```curl
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/credit_notes \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -d "invoice={{INVOICE_ID}}" \
  -d "refunds[0][refund]={{REFUND_ID}}" \
  -d "refunds[0][amount_refunded]=1000" \
  -d "lines[0][type]=invoice_line_item" \
  -d "lines[0][invoice_line_item]={{line item id from invoice}}" \
  -d "lines[0][amount]=1000"
```

## See also

- [Issue credit notes from the Dashboard](https://docs.stripe.com/invoicing/dashboard/credit-notes.md)
- [Generate credit notes programmatically](https://docs.stripe.com/invoicing/integration/programmatic-credit-notes.md)
- [Collect taxes on invoices](https://docs.stripe.com/tax/invoicing.md)